States suing Purdue Pharma LP over the marketing of its OxyContin painkiller are demanding access to confidential documents as part of a probe into whether some members of the billionaire Sackler family engaged in misconduct when they managed the opioid maker, Bloomberg News reported. More than 20 states said federal prosecutors’ claims tied to a $225 million accord unveiled last month provide a “substantial reason” to believe some of the Sacklers “committed crimes in operating Purdue and secreting its assets,” according to a bankruptcy filing Wednesday. The family members deny the allegations. Those states want U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain to force the Sacklers to hand over files they claim are confidential as part of an investigation into whether shifts of “billions of dollars out of Purdue” amounted to fraudulent transfers, the filing shows. Judge Drain signed off on an $8.3 billion settlement between Purdue and the U.S. government last week. The states point to the U.S. government’s assertion in settlement documents that Sackler family members transferred funds out of Purdue “with the intent to hinder future creditors and/or were otherwise voidable as fraudulent transfers,” according to court filings. Jim Boffetti, an assistant attorney general in New Hampshire who is overseeing the office’s opioid litigation, said his state is among those who want access to Purdue’s confidential documents about the fund transfers.
